Rating: 3.5 stars

This was a super quick read. I ended up reading it in about an hour on my lunch at work. I liked the characters and the plot a lot. I thought the book was well written and very engaging for the most part. I did find myself being pulled out of the story a few times and lost in my own thoughts instead but I think that was more of a me thing. I also didn’t realize that this was the third in the series, so not sure how much that affected anything, but I like to read books in order. I’ll definitely check out the other books in this series because I did enjoy this one!

I enjoyed reading Every Time We Say Goodbye by Natalie Jenner. You will fall in love with all the characters. I received an ARC of this book courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and given freely. Happy Reading!

Every Time We Say Goodbye weaves in quite a bit, and Natalie Jenner intersects characters and themes as deftly as she has done in previous books. Like before, here there is a mixture of real historical figures walking alongside fully fictional characters, adding to the realism and timeline of the story.

In Bloomsbury Girls, Vivien Lowry was a complicated, prickly, ambitious woman with a tragic past. Here we get to see more of her past and her ambition, even if her edges are starting to soften. Going into Every Time We Say Goodbye, I was expecting the story to largely center on Vivien’s search for the truth regarding her late fiancé’s final months in Italy. However, while that goal does first inspire Vivien to relocate to Rome, it hovers in the background for much of the book, waiting until the end to put the pieces together.

Instead, much of this book is more about the Italian film industry in the 1950s. Working as a script doctor at the eminent Cinecittà Studios, Vivien not only gets to spend time with famous actors and directors alike, she also gets a firsthand look at how the Catholic Church exerts such control over the films being produced there. The Catholic Church has a ton of power over Italy at this time, and that extends to the movies that can be made or shown there. But their neutral position during WWII means that some stories may make them look bad, further incentivizing them to put a stop to certain stories that our characters want to tell.

If you’re a fan of classic movies and stars of the 1950s, this is a fun book to immerse yourself in. There are many recognizable faces, plus fascinating insight into the Italian filmmaking industry of the time. However, this is also a thought-provoking look at religion as an institution and as a source of immense power. I also liked getting to know Vivien specifically, and her lack of trust in religion. As she points out later in the novel, how can she have faith in the aftermath of such atrocities as those committed in WWII?

There are numerous interconnecting stories here. On the one hand, Vivien starts seeing a man named John Lassiter, and his relationship with his wife Anita Pacelli and their adopted daughter Margarita is complicated. Later revelations mirror the information another character, Tabitha Knight, is working to uncover about her own past as an orphan of WWII. And then there’s the story we’re waiting to see wrapped up: What really happened to David? There are prominent themes of loss and survival, of children and babies, orphans and adoption, and more, and it all comes together beautifully by the end.

Every Time We Say Goodbye mostly focuses on Vivien Lowry’s life in 1955, but there are also snapshots of an anonymous woman known as La Scolaretta in 1943. How does her story connect with everything else?

Another one of my favorite (and rather meta) themes here is the recurring discussion of what constitutes the truth. Filmmakers, writers, photographers, painters—who is to say what is real and what is pure fiction? How much of the truth is made? When outside powers (like the Catholic Church) censor or prohibit scenes or entire movies, how can people judge what is real? As a creator, these are fascinating questions. And as part of a novel themselves, and a novel about creators, no less, these are important themes to keep considering.

Every Time We Say Goodbye is a thoughtful, melancholy, yet hopeful novel of post-WWII Italy and England. It has the dazzle brought by the film industry and famous stars present throughout, but it also has the harsh realities of war and its aftermath. I was happy to get to know Vivien Lowry more, from her unfinished past to the future she can finally forge for herself.

I was excited to hear that Natalie Jenner was moving the setting of her Jane Austen Society series from England to Italy post-WWII. The moviemaking scene in Italy was a perfect backdrop for Vivien, a scriptwriter and one of the Bloomsbury Girls (Jane Austen Society #2), and many guest appearances too. I had just recently finished reading Beneath a Scarlet Sky about WWII Italy and so this was a fitting and serendipitous “flight pick”.

I never realized how big the Italian movie industry was in those days and how many Americans flocked there to avoid the McCarthyism in the U.S. I thought the book was so good at delving into how people were recovering from all the trauma and losses of WWII while trying to move on with their lives. I love how Natalie Jenner writes her characters - I quickly feel like I’ve known them all along, including name-drops of many well-knowns of that time. I’ll continue looking forward to future books in this series.

Many thanks to #StMartinsPress who is so generous in providing me an early copy in exchange for my honest review! This novel dropped on Tuesday. I highly recommend it to historical fiction lovers, especially those who have read the first two of the series, although it can definitely be read as a standalone.

My links:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5898490573?book_show_action=false
https://www.instagram.com/p/C6_f1NDLeMG/

Compelling!

Jenner continues exploring the lives of various of characters we’ve met in the “Austen Society” and “Bloomsbury Girls.” This time the action is mostly set in post World War II Rome. Vivien Lowrey is a playwright. Through her works she tries to capture the truth of things. Having been savaged by theatre critics for her latest production she comes to Rome to work as a script doctor for “When All Else Fails” a Douglas Curtis film being produced in Italy.
Joseph McCarthy has started his witch hunts for communist and socialists in the film industry and many have fled here. Mussolini had built a huge studio complex in Rome specifically for propaganda. Now, in 1955, Cinecittà Studios is being well used by the Italian and other film makers, including the Americans.
Vivien catches up with others of the Austen and Bloomsbury women who flit in and out of the story, including Peggy Guggenheim.
The names! I’m starry eyed! Sophia Loren, Gina Lollobrigida, Anna Magnani, Orson Wells, Eartha Kitt!
The story is complex. Layers upon layers build up a picture of Vivian and those around her. Vivien had been engaged to David St. Vincent, heir to an earldom. David had been captured in North Africa, then sent to Italy, escaped and then disappeared. Vivian had always believed he was dead. When she finds out he’d lived, she has hope. That’s part of her reason for coming to Italy.
In Rome she learns the story of many in the Italian underground, particularly the women. One was La Scolaretta, girlfriend of underground leader Prince Nino Tremonti, now filmmaker. La Scolaretta became an assassin. She was helped by an Italian nun, Sister Justina. Their reasons for helping are different, but their bravery and resistance is awe inspiring.
A film is to be made about Scolaretta. The Vatican shuts it down!
The Vatican comes under fire. Where were they during the time when the country was occupied by the Nazis. Did they seek to hold onto power at any cost?
Meanwhile the search for news of David and for others comes to the fore for Vivien. During her search Vivien faces facts about her own life.
As she and her friend Gabriella Giacometti discuss when Claudia (a reporter for Life Magazine) moves onto a new life, “Our secrets are who we really are.”
A deeply moving story of loss and gain, of power abused, and of a time in history that has stained generations.

A St. Martins Press ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher.
Please note: Quotes taken from an advanced reading copy maybe subject to change
(Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.)

Dual POV with great 1950s film industry insight! Strong female characters but left me wishing for more connection with characters. Would have liked more time with some of the smaller storylines. Overall another good read from Natalie Jenner but not my favorite of hers.

3.5 Italian heartbreaking stars

Set mostly in post-WWII Italy, this is a heartbreaking tale of grief and recovery after the war. I didn’t realize that Rome was a huge filming city, and it was fun to read about famous actresses like Sophia Loren and Gina Lollobrigida. The church also played a heavy part, censoring things that were deemed negative to the church or sinful.

There were also some alternating chapters featuring a heroine of the Italian resistance. I don’t think I’ve read many books about that, but it makes sense that there would be an underground movement in Italy.

If you’ve read the earlier books by this author, some characters are the same. However, I think this one would work as a stand-alone. The earlier books have a very different British feel.

Vivien Lowry is an author who is escaping negative reviews in London, so she heads to Rome to help edit a script. She also has a side project of trying to find out what happened to her fiancée near the end of the war.

Italy is trying to heal after the war, but there is a long way to go. As Vivien gets to know some Romans, she finds healing eventually as well. I liked that her character ends up growing and finding some happiness.

Natalie Jenner's EVERY TIME WE SAY GOODBYE was historical fiction at its best, sharing the story of Vivien, would-be playwright fleeing terrible reviews to assist with a movie set in Italy. I loved the time period, the settings, and stories interwoven throughout of WWII, art, the Resistance, and the dialogue between well-drawn characters. I felt totally immersed in a time and place -- a wonderful escape so well-written and structured so that I was tempted to read just one more chapter instead of going to bed, getting to work, doing anything but leaving a vivid, wonderfully realized story.

Post-WWII Italy is back to making films, and Vivien becomes a script doctor and living la dolce vita, while dealing with the Catholic Church censors versus films made with the passion of the moment. 

A parallel story from the war is told about the Resistance and its ties to a convent still maintaining secrets, while Vivien tries to find out what happened to her fiance during the war. When she discovers the truth, she finds peace and has decisions to make about her future.

The backdrop of Rome makes the perfect setting for Vivien's story, her life, her love, and her writing. The reader is transported to this vibrant time and mesmerized by the story, the characters, and the country, even in the face of obstacles.

A beautiful story told with heart.

Every time We Say Goodbye by Natalie Jenner is technically book #3 in the Jane Austen Society books but reads as a stand alone book just with some of the characters making appearances. Set mostly in the 1950's, Vivien Lowry is struggling with her playwriter career in London after her second play bombs. She is encouraged to go to Rome to help "fix" a movie script and at the same time she can search to see if there is any information about her fiancé who died during WWII in Italy.

Rome has become quite the movie haven during the 50's when so many in Hollywood were being outed as communists and unable to work there anymore. It was fascinating to learn about how integral the Italian film making industry had become. The book also shows us how the Catholic Church took an interest in the industry and a censor of what was considered not only wholesome but patriotic to the Italian people.

It took a while into the book to figure out where it was going because there was also a timeline in 1943 with a female assassin who was part of the resistance and killed German commanders. It wasn't clear how the two timelines would interconnect, but they did and the lives of those involved would forever be changed. That really was the focus of the book, saying goodbye to those we love and the tragedy of war.

It is a heartfelt story but also full of lush scenery and captivating info on life after war.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Are you a fan of classic movies? I love classic movies and could watch them all day if I had the time. Time seems to be a problem for me lately with my oldest son near high school graduation and us deciding to redo our hardwood floors.

Happy #bookbirthday today to Every Time We Say Goodbye by Natalie Jenner.

Every Time We Say Goodbye is the story of Vivian Lowry. In 1955, she wrote a play that audiences loved, but critics loathed. Following the recommendations of friends, Vivian travels to Italy where she works as a script doctor on a movie. She also uses her time there to investigate the disappearance of her fiancé during WWII. Flashbacks also tell the story of “La Scolaretta”, a schoolgirl who is also an assassin during WWII. How are these two stories related?

My thoughts on this novel:
• With my hectic schedule, I once again found it best to review this book as both an audiobook and a physical book. It worked well. Juliet Aubrey was a soothing narrator.

• I felt immersed in 1950s Italy in this novel and loved the details of movie making in Italy during this time period. It was fun when real life actors, such as Sophia Loren and Ava Gardner, made an appearance.

• This is the third novel in The Jane Austen Society series, but the series is very loosely related. Vivian is a character in the previous books, and in this novel, she gets her own story. Other characters pop back up as well. It’s fun if you’ve read the previous two books, but this book can very much be a standalone novel.

• I thought it was interesting exploring how the Catholic Church was involved with the making of the movies during this time. It was much more involved than I thought.

• I didn’t know how the two storylines were connected for a long time while reading this novel, but they came together beautifully at the end.

• This was a thoughtful look at love and loss, how to best remember someone when they are gone, and how to move on from that loss.

• I had a harder time engaging with the characters in this novel than I did in the previous novels.

Favorite Quote: “Yet in the end, goodness is fixed and steady, and not so difficult to spot. It is evil that takes a bewildering number of forms and keeps changing its shape, tricking you with false promises and reasoning, taunting you into resignation.”

Overall, Every Time We Say Goodbye was a well written novel that gives the reader an immersive experience of 1950s filmmaking in Italy as well as a thoughtful look at how WWII impacted the people of that time.

Read if you like: post WW2 fiction, movie setting in Italy
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Taking place after Bloomsbury Girls, we follow Vivien as she leaves London for Rome to work as a writer for a film production company. There she learns how Italians are trying to move forward from WW2 and Fascism, as well as the tight grip the Church has on the country and censorship/
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Overall I liked this book but it is my least favourite of Jenner's three books in the series. The Jane Austen Society was just so perfect. The pacing of this one was quite slow at times, but I still enjoyed it!

Natalie Jenner’s third novel, Every Time We Say Goodbye, once again features some of the characters from her first two novels. Here Vivien Lowry takes center stage. An aspiring writer, she’s written a play that’s a flop with the critics. Smarting with disappointment, she goes to Italy to take a position as a script doctor at the world famous Cinecittà movie studios in Rome. She’s also searching for answers as to what happened to her fiancé David.
There are two timelines fairly close together; one follows a young Italian Resistance fighter during WWII and the other takes place in the same locale in the mid-50s and follows Vivien. I’ve read all three of Jenner’s books and they’re all intertwined, but can be easily read as a stand-alone. Of the three this is probably my least favorite. It’s a little less cosy and at times a lot more horrifying. I felt it was slow getting going, but if you stick with it it does get better and leads to a satisfying conclusion. It’s about religion and faith, censorship, trauma and healing, and women’s issues too. 4 stars

Every Time We Say Goodbye follows Vivian Lowry, whose play has just been viciously ripped apart by London critics leaving her with a desperate need for a change of scenery. And on top of that she finds out that her long thought dead fiancée may in fact have disappeared in Italy. When an opportunity presents itself, Viví finds herself in Rome, exploring its cinema as a script doctor while also working to unbury the secrets of its WWII past

This book was a mixed bag for me. I enjoyed learning about Italian cinema in the 50s. For examples, I had no idea that the famous Italian studio, Cinecitta, was actually created by Mussolini! Also enjoyed learning more about the Italian partisan movement, which I had learned a bit about in another recent read, The Three Lives of Alix St Pierre by Natasha Lester. The story of the scolarata (a young female assassin) and Prince Nino was one of the most touching parts of the book, a truly tragic love story, which highlights how Italian women were the unsung heroines of the war. However, the structure of the book didn’t work for me. There was no well defined plot. Because the story meandered so much I’m ultimately not sure if this was meant to be the story of Vivi finding closure after the war, uncovering the fate of her fiancée or an insiders look into the secrets of Italian cinema in the 50s. Overall, this book had a lot of potential, but the execution was not well done in my opinion

A woman playwright in the 1950s Vivien Lowry flees London for Rome after some scathing reviews. Here she finds employment in a thriving film industry led by Cinecitti Studios. Surrounded by artists and creatives Vivien immerses herself in their lives and her work. Italy at this time is still healing from the wounds of WWII and its people the trauma. Vivien herself has questions about the loss of her beloved fiancé. This book tells their story, people creating art while facing the horrors of the past under the very watchful eye of the Catholic Church. This is the 3rd book in the Jane Austen Society series and can be read as a stand alone although there are references to characters and their back stories. I think I would have preferred to read in order. Thank you to netgalley and St Martins Press

I received an advance copy, which somehow kept getting pushed aside, but it is being published on Tuesday, so here I am on Mother's Day reading a book filled with stories about Mother's.
Jumping between 1943 and 1955 Italy, we have a story about a girl in the resistance and a British woman, Vivien Lowry, who has lost her fiancee in the war and much more.
After a play she writes in London receives bad reviews, she departs for Rome to be a script doctor at an Italian studio.
I found the intermixture of real people such as Peggy Guggenheim, Sophia Loren, and Gina Lollobrigida, along with fictionalized versions of other stars and movie directors quite fascinating.
The depiction of war and the aftermath is heartbreaking, and the author manages to allude to the present while writing about the past.
Faith and the lack of it, passion used to hide emptiness, hypocrisy at all levels is touched upon. The life of war orphans and war veterans is also written with compassion.
Vivien, as a character, is filled with grief for many reasons, and she finally finds a way to live again.
The epilogue is particularly moving. This is a book I will introduce to my many book clubs.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the EARC. This is my honest review. I really can't wait to share this book.

I feel bad saying I did not enjoy this book, as I know it was well researched, but that is the truth.

Sometimes it works when books have lots of characters and various plots going on simultaneously. Unfortunately, this was not one of those times. Despite Every Time We Say Goodbye being set in the glamorous post-war scene of 1950s Italy, within the film industry no less, I became overwhelmed with the large cast and did not feel connected to any of them, not even the protagonist, Vivian.

I received e-book and audiobook copies of this novel, and would likely not have been able to finish if I did not have the audio to listen to on double speed. Thank you to NetGalley, the author, St. Martin's Press, and Macmillan Audio, for arcs to review in exchange for my feedback.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced digital copy of this book.

It's 1955 and Vivien Lowry is the author of the only woman-written play currently in London's West End theaters. But opening night, despite the audience's applause, the critics do not agree and it soon closes. Vivien decides to try something else for a while and heads to Rome and the famous Cinecitta Studios, where there is a script in trouble which some think maybe Vivien can rescue.

With the HUAC investigations going on in America, there are a lot of ex-pats living and working in Rome and Vivien gets to know many of them. Both Sophia Loren and Gina Lollobrigida are just starting their careers and learning English in preparation for Hollywood and super stardom. But the recent war also hangs over Italy. So many suffered under first Mussolini and then the Germans and many still have not forgotten. Just before Vivien leaves, she finds out that her fiance, missing and presumed dead, was last seen in Italy after leaving an internment camp. But the trail seems lost and she is determined to find out what happened to him.

With many friends and social contacts, she seemingly becomes acquainted with "everyone who is anyone" as she searches. But she also hears another story, that of a young girl who was part of the Resistance and was captured, tortured and murdered in Rome in 1943. As a movie about this young girl is being prepared and questions arise about the Church's response, or lack of one, to the Nazi occupation, she is questioned by the Vatican, who have the final say as to what movies will meet the standards they set and what movies can even be made in Italy.

There is a lot going on in this book, with some chapters going back to the young girl in 1943, but most is set in 1955, as Vivien discovers who she is and who she wants to be. A good book and a good read.

Every Time We Say Goodbye by Natalie Jenner is the third book in the Jane Austen Society series. In a story of love and art, of grief and memory, and of confronting the past and facing the future, it opens in 1955, as Vivian Lowry faces an uncertain future. After a poorly reviewed play that threatens her career as a dramatic playwright, she takes a job as a script doctor on a major film shooting in Rome’s Cinecitta Studios. There she finds a movie filled with rising stars, acclaimed directors and famous actors. The cast and crew find themselves torn between the past and a possibly brighter future, between the liberation of the post war cinema and the restrictions imposed by the Catholic Church. On a personal note, Vivien begins to learn the long-buried truth of what really happened to her deceased fiancé during the war.
As a fan of The Bloomsbury Girls, I was looking forward to Every Time We Say Goodbye. I enjoy stories that feature life in the postwar world. Unfortunately, the story fell flat very quickly. The opening prologue was captivating and I was eager to discover more. However, the story that followed left me confused and lost. There were just so many characters. It was hard to keep track of who was who without stopping every other page to take notes and took me out of the story every time. I didn’t care for Vivien. I found her harsh and lacking any warmth or likability. I did enjoy learning about the famous Cinecitta Studios and the classic American movies that were filmed there. If you enjoyed Ms. Jenner’s The Jane Austen Society and The Bloomsbury Girls, I suggest giving Every Time We Say Goodbye a try. You may enjoy it more than I did.

Every Time We Say Goodbye will be available
in hardcover, eBook, and audiobook May 14, 2024

I was excited to read this without realizing it’s the third book in a series. I haven’t read the first two and I think it impacted my reading a little. A few chapters probably would've been more meaningful if I had that background and Vivien is. Repeat character I believe. But, for the most part, this is you don't need to have read the earlier books.

I enjoyed the writing style and the charms of Italy. The writing was beautiful at times, especially when focused on the role of the cinema. However I found it difficult to immerse myself in this story and connect with the characters. I found the story had too many plot lines and the focus kept veering from one to another. There were moments that had me hooked and eagerly reading to find out the truth about David but then a tangent would have me distracted. I did love the way some of the storylines tied together in the end though.

I loved the glamour of ltaly, the cinema and celebrities. I also loved the parallel between Italy coming to terms with its past and Vivien’s journey.

In the end, I am curious to read the other books by this author and to read a future book she writes even though this was not a favorite.